Dalai Lama envoys back from talks

February 1, 2010 12:00 am

By , DHARAMSHALA, Feb 1 – Envoys of Tibet\’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama returned to India on Monday after talks in China on the future of the troubled Himalayan region, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama said.

The two envoys arrived back in New Delhi following meetings with Chinese government representatives which began in the central state of Hunan before moving to Beijing at the weekend, the Dalai Lama\’s senior secretary Chhime Chhoekyapa told AFP.

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Chhoekyapa declined to provide any details of the talks which marked the first contact between the two sides since November 2008. The Chinese government has scheduled a press briefing for Tuesday.

Envoys Lodi G. Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen will travel to the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala later Monday to brief the prime minister of the exiled Ticapitalfmnewn government, Chhoekyapa said.

At the last round of talks, the Ticapitalfmnewns had handed over a memorandum insisting their demands for autonomy in the mountainous Buddhist enclave were in line with China\’s constitution.

Beijing said at the time it would not compromise on its position that Tibet is an integral part of China, but said it would keep open the door for future discussions despite "serious divergences" between the two sides.

Gyari and Gyaltsen had flown to China on January 25 for what was the ninth round of meetings since the secretive dialogue process began in 2002.

The Dalai Lama has sought "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet since he fled his homeland following a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, nine years after Chinese troops invaded the region.

China says the Dalai Lama actually wants full independence and has insisted that he must renounce "separatist" activities — which he denies supporting.